Leighton Meester is proud

23 March 2017

Leighton Meester is "very proud" of her family and career.

Leighton Meester

The 'Making History' actress doesn't talk about her daughter Arlo, 19 months, or husband Adam Brody very much because she would rather focus on her work without people's perceptions getting in the way.

She told Refinery29: "I don't talk about Arlo very much. I am very proud of that area of my life. But I'm also really proud of the show, and of the work I do.

"I think the perception is: You're an ingenue, or you're an icon, or you're a mom. There's no in between."

The former 'Gossip Girl' star believes things are changing for actresses, but there is still a lot of progress needed.

She said: "The idea is that as you become older, you start to see more substantial roles, with more gravity. But it's still pretty skewed. There's still a misrepresentation of actual demographics..

"Twentysomethings are everywhere on television. But they're only a part of the population. Less often do you see strong, diverse, dynamic female leads who are considered 'older'."

And Leighton has urged women to continue to "grab back" and admire females in strong positions, rather than to regard them with suspicion.

She said: "It's so ingrained in people to not trust women in power, or women who want power. It's so ingrained to think a woman can't do that kind of job, and to criticise her for her personality, her imperfections, her clothing, her hair, her make-up, her laugh... That's such bulls**t. It's not acceptable. There's no excuse.

"We need to continue to push, to grab back. When you caricature women for being strong, independent feminists, you trivialize their ideals."